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Wednesday, 17 July 2013

Movistar Picks off a Stage

16 July 2013

Ed note. Sorry, I was so tired last night I forgot to post this.

Perhaps you think that I am a died in
the wool Francophile. Whatever I may say about living here and the
rest of life here, the countryside they are taking us through is
simply mind blowing. I will stop there, because in the next few
days, I won't have to tell anyone who watches about that. One thing
that makes it better than anywhere else (except maybe Italy) is that
those roads have been there for centuries in some cases. They wander
around, with incredible density, all over the place. And the
surfaces are mostly excellent. So for riding a bike, or inventing a
course for a bike race, you really just can't beat them. They have
not been made for cars or lorries, so they are not easy to use for
exploring all the bits of the landscape. Except where you have to
walk. They are tricky. Plus they go up to ski stations. The
combination makes the infrastructure superb, unmatchable really.

As for the racing, Rui Costa made a
lovely move, timed perfectly, and executed with skill and guts. I
felt really sorry for him the other day when he was force to work for
Valverde (uselessly in the end) and dropped out of the top ten. This
stage win makes up for that and I am really pleased. In addition,
the break won! I always like that. Even if one could say the GC
peloton “allowed” them to win. Makes it two races in one day,
which doubles the pleasure. The dynamics of constructing the escape,
and the way they do or do not work together, and the way it falls
apart at the end, either on a climb or a sprint, is fun to sort out
for a passionate, geeky spectator. This was no exception.

As for the GC competition that was not
quite so interesting, although there were some moments. Contador
seemed keen to attack, but Sky just kept pulling (or Porte did) and
the brief attacks came to nothing. Movistar seemed to be keeping
their powder dry for the next few days, but still made some moves.

Sky quite specifically train for
attacks of some duration in the high mountains (they say 25 minutes).
Michael Rogers talked about this a bit on a cycling news video. Sky
continues to talk about it. I do really wonder if ALL the other
teams use this method of training as rigorously as the Sky team.
There are still riders, like Gadret, who admitted he sometimes takes
six hour rides without looking at the computer on his bike. You can
be sure Thibaut Pinot trains on “instinct” although he really
means intuition. Brailsford said he was in no way surprised about
the attacks of Froome, they practice all the time and Sir Dave says
he could have gone faster. The attack that dropped Contador was only
a few seconds of standing on the pedals, then settling down for one
of the fastest cadence on a bike I have ever seen. The two attacks
with Quintana had Froome standing up for much longer, and Quintana
answered. The final attack seemed to just be Froome moving away and
Quintana not keeping up. Frankly, it is my view that the old method,
typified by Contador standing up constantly is a waste of energy. If
you have the power sitting down is much better. I know this because
when I stand up my heart rate always goes up, even if I don't go too
much faster. I think we shall see more of this style of attack as
soon as the other teams figure out how to train for it. I think the
people who criticise it and are amazed by it just have no idea what
it is like, cycling up a hill fast. Mind you, sometimes I wonder if
I do anymore.

The French still have not won a stage,
but they did get 2-3-4 today, which is close. I have no idea how
they are going to take a stage, and am already feeling a sorry for
them. Wait til next year. They have some very fine young riders.
Even if none of them win much yet.

As far as the standings, not much
change. Quintana leapt over ten Dam. Martin is now in tenth place.
Talansky is creeping up a bit and might end up quite respectably.
Just needs one escapein the mountains.

My French TV coverage never mentioned
the notorious curve when Beloki came off and Lance rode over the
field. I saw it twice. Never a mention. I heard the British
coverage did mention it.

Froome and Contador crashing or riding
off the road a bit was a quick reminder that anything can happen, on
any day, at any time. But I am utterly delighted that there appear
to be no serious injuries, at least at first glance with Contador.
To have the top two wiped out for no really good reason would be a
total drag. There are some very dicey descents to come, especially
on Thursday coming off the Col de Sarrene. I think the other riders
did slow down a bit and waited for the yellow jersey and the second
place rider to catch up. The correct thing to do.

Although I missed it, there was a very
good, long, and fairly deep interview with Brailsford after the
French coverage. So far, everyone I know who has seen it, several
guys on my forum and my wife, were all impressed. One day we will
find out, but they were pretty well convinced that Sky is hiding
nothing. And that Froome and his team are riding on legal
stimulants.

There was a big thunderstorm here,
which was not meant to happen. So we unplugged everything and I was
unable to do much surfing today. I didn't even really look at the GC
closely. After tomorrow and for every day after this, the GC will be
changing here and there, so we will examine it more closely. I could
not find Brailsford's interview although Idid check the French
Channel 3 sports show and some of the British ITV 4. No luck. It
will be in l'Equipe tomorrow for sure.

Looking forward to seeing a pal of mine
from New Zealand tomorrow. So I might find it harder to write much.
Some things are more important the Tour blogs. Assuming I wake up
and the back feels a bit better. Three hours driving tomorrow
morning, then three hours back the next morning is not to be taken
lightly. This back flareup is a drag. Haven't even been on the bike
for ten days or so. Although I have been swimming three times.

About Me

I have been writing and corresponding about the Tour each July for eighteen years. The Tour is a bit of a passion, but riding a bike is what I do all the year around. My club has a site http://www.cyclo-club-bedarieux.com/guppy/